This application claims the priority of German patent document 102 43 957.5, filed Sep. 20, 2002, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a locking device for a vehicle door, having a lock disposed between an inside panel and an outside panel of the vehicle door fastened to the inside panel, which lock has a release lever for eliminating the locking position of the lock, and having an outside operating mechanism acting upon the release lever by way of a force transmission element, the outside operating mechanism comprising a supporting part fastened to the interior side of the outside panel and a swivelable pull handle arranged on the exterior side.
Locking devices of this type are used in a plurality of vehicles. In the case of relatively large-surface vehicle doors and approximately horizontally aligned outside operating mechanisms (door handles) which can be swiveled in transverse direction of the vehicle, it is problematic that, at a high lateral acceleration of above 30 g acting upon the vehicle, the outside door panel bulges toward the outside in the area of the outside operating mechanism, whereby, under unfavorable conditions, the locking of the lock is unintentionally abolished.
It is an object of the invention to take such measures on a locking device for a vehicle door that, also in the case of large-surface vehicle doors and approximately horizontally aligned outside operating mechanisms, which can be swiveled in the transverse direction of the vehicle, at lateral accelerations of a magnitude of over 30 g, the operability security of the locking device is reliably ensured.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a locking device for a vehicle door, comprising a lock fastened between an inside panel and an outside panel of a vehicle door which is fastened to the inside panel, said lock having a release lever for eliminating a locking position of the lock, and an outside operating mechanism acting upon the release lever by way of a force transmission element, the outside operating mechanism comprising a supporting part fastened to an interior side of the outside panel and a swivelable pull handle arranged on the exterior side, wherein a catching device is provided adjacent to the lock within the vehicle door, which catching device, during a defined lateral acceleration acting upon the vehicle, interacts with a supporting part of the outer operating mechanism and limits a bulging of the outside panel toward the outside.
Further advantageous features of the preferred embodiment of the invention are described herein.
Important advantages achieved by means of the invention are that, as a result of the arrangement of a catching device adjacent to the lock inside the vehicle door, it is ensured that, also in the case of relatively large-surface soft vehicle doors and approximately horizontally arranged outside operating mechanisms which can be swiveled in the transverse direction of the vehicle, the function of the locking device is reliably ensured at lateral accelerations of above 30 g acting upon the vehicle, because the bulging movement of the outside panel of the door in the area of the outside operating mechanism is effectively limited. The catching device according to the preferred embodiment of the invention constructed of a catch pin and a holding part has a simple cost-effective construction and is contactless in the inoperative position of the vehicle door; that is, there is also no noise, and no additional screwed connections or the like are required, so that the mounting of the outside operating mechanism is not made difficult. The catch pin is preferably provided on the supporting part of the outside operating mechanism, and the holding part is integrated in an interior door reinforcement or in the lock. During the mounting, only the catch pin of the supporting part is fitted into the receiving device of the holding part, the receiving device surrounding the catch pin at a radial distance of approximately 2 to 3 mm according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention. During a lateral acceleration, the exterior part with the outside operating mechanism fastened thereto moves toward the outside by this amount. Subsequently, the catch pin rests on the exterior edge of the receiving device and prevents the further bulging of the outside panel toward the outside.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.